A non-judgemental and home birth-friendly platform for birth attendants from around the world to learn about potential issues that may arise with a mother or baby at a birth and the tools and skills that may support in these situations.

Hello and Welcome!

My name is Ruth Ehrhardt and I am a mother, traditional midwife, and birth attendant from South Africa.

A little bit about me and the BIRTH FIRST AID COURSE:

My experience with dealing with emergency situations comes from growing up on a farm where we had no electricity or hot water, were far from anything (an hour’s drive from the nearest town on a very bumpy dirt road), and had to learn to make a plan in all sorts of situations. 

My experience with Birth First Aid comes from attending births at home, which, mostly, were smooth and went well but I have had to learn to think quickly on my feet when a baby has struggled to breathe, a mother has lost more blood than she should, or a baby has gotten stuck at the shoulders whilst being born. 

I am also a facilitator and Master trainer of Helping Babies Breathe and Helping Mothers Survive – two modalities for supporting mothers and babies at births in low resourced settings. I spent some years volunteering for Operation Smile’s Education Missions in African hospitals teaching these two courses.

This course has developed from these different experiences as well as the wonderful midwives, doctors, doulas, birth attendants, birthkeepers and of course, the mothers, babies and families who have been my teachers on this path.




WHAT WE WILL COVER IN THE COURSE:


Helping Babies Breathe and Helping Mothers Survive philosophy

Creating and maintaining the basic needs of the mother and baby in an emergency situation

How to create an emergency care plan (without it causing too much adrenaline!) and support transfer to the hospital

Helping babies who are struggling to breathe at birth

Dealing with more than normal blood loss after birth

Preventing and dealing with shoulder dystocia

Cord Issues

Surprise breech

Herbs and homeopathy to support the above 

Birth Stories

Our recovery (mental, emotional, and physical) 

Creating a support network

Death, loss and Disability



The course is free birth supportive and friendly and open to

ANYONE attending births at home in ANY capacity.


The course has been a popular and rich learning space for the diverse groups of people who have attended the workshops.


Example Curriculum


Get a sense of what we will be exploring together over the 4 months together:

  MODULE 1 / Section 1: Introduction and Orientation to Birth First Aid
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  Module 1 / Section 2: Resources and Questions to Ponder
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  MODULE 2 / Section 1: Foundations of Birth First Aid
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  Module 2 / Section 2: Undisturbed Birth Physiology
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  Module 2 / Section 3: Resources and Questions to Ponder
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  MODULE 3: Helping Babies who are Struggling to Breathe
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  Module 3: Resources and Questions to Ponder
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  MODULE 4: Supporting Mothers with Blood Loss
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  Module 4: Resources and Questions to Ponder
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  MODULE 5: Shoulder Dystocia, Cord issues and Surprise Breech
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  Shoulder Dystocia
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  Cord Issues
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  Surprise Breech
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  Making the Call to Transfer
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  Module 5: Questions to Ponder
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  Module 6: Holding Space for Others and Ourselves
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Birth First Aid testimonial

Student midwife Beth shares her experience of attending the Birth First Aid course

Pricing Options:



We offer enrolment in four different currencies, best serving the communities who attend our courses.



You can choose from US dollar, Euro, Great British Pounds and South African Rands.



You can choose between a once off payment for the course, or take advantage of our payment plans.



As always in the True Midwifery learning space, we remain committed to upholding the component of equality and accessibility by ensuring a sliding scale of costs for the courses, as well as making scholarships available to those who need them.



PAYMENT PLANS, GROUP DISCOUNTS and DISCOUNTS FOR PREVIOUS STUDENTS are also available.

Please reach out to [email protected] to find out about these options




ONCE-OFF PAYMENT OPTIONS



PAYMENT PLAN OPTIONS

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